Hong Kong's 'one country, two systems' model is on its last legs

By

Niki J.P. Alsford, University of Central Lancashire

Thousands of people take part in the annual protest that coincides with the date in 1997 when Britain handed over control of Hong Kong back to China. Opposition to a proposed Hong Kong law allowing extraditions to China has created increased activism. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Protesters break into the government's parliament building during a demonstration on the 22nd anniversary of the territory's handover to China on July 1. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who are opposed to a proposed Hong Kong law allowing extraditions to China protested in the streets. The violent clashes between demonstrators and police left at least 54 people seeking treatment, hospital officials said. At least two were in serious condition, but most were discharged. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Student activists take down signs and clean up a walkway decorated with signs and flowers, placed in honor for those injured and killed during the protests, in Hong Kong on June 19. Hong Kong's businesses have breathed a sigh of relief as protests against the extradition bill were suspended and activists called off protests. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet apologized this week and halted debates on the extradition bill. Two of her advisers followed suit on Wednesday. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

The leadership is in a tough position because several of Lam's key allies in her pro-establishment bloc support the bill and Hong Kong's Legislative Council also has a majority of its lawmakers appointed by the Chinese Communist Party. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Signs from the protests are piled on the curb. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Student activists take down signs and clean up a walkway. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

A man writes on a sidewalk message board posted by activists before Sunday's massive march in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Hong Kong's government has reopened after Sunday's historic march protesting the extradition bill and calling for Chief Executive Carrie Lam's resignation resulted in the suspension of the bill. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

The extradition bill would have allowed for fugitives from Beijing's courts residing in Hong Kong to be extradited to China. The bill was put on hold Saturday, but then 2 million people took to the streets Sunday, demanding the bill be permanently scrapped. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

The former British colony has been allowed its own local institutions under a "one country, two systems" arrangement with China. Protesters see the extradition law as a further whittling away of the island's democracy by Beijing. Supporters say it will prevent the island from being a haven for Chinese criminals. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Protests erupted June 9 and have continued despite Lam announcing Saturday that the bill had been halted. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

People walk past protest messages still hanging on the gate surrounding the government house, which were posted on Sunday. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Hong Kong's most prominent student activist, Joshua Wong, prepares to talk with protesters hours after he was released from prison in Hong Kong on Monday. Wong said he is ready to "join the fight" against the suspended extradition bill and called for Beijing-backed Lam to resign. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Wong, 22, was released Monday after serving a two-month jail sentence in connection with the 2014 protests that rocked the island demanding more civil power from China to choose its own political leaders. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Two protesters talk with a large group of activists and striking students camped out at a pavilion on the Legislative Government complex in Hong Kong on Monday. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

A protester points in a guard's face. The woman is outside a barrier lined with Hong Kong police guarding the Legislative Government headquarters. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Activists and students march to the Legislative Government headquarters. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Protesters march to the Legislative Government headquarters. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

About 2 million people protested in Hong Kong on Sunday, which Organizers of Civil Human Rights Front estimated the turnout was double the 1 million who took to the streets seven days earlier to demonstrate against the bill. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

The city of 7 million is the world's fourth most densely populated region. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

A crowd chanted the Cantonese word for "Retract!" in a message to Lam to permanently scrap the bill. A large number of protesters sang "Do You Hear The People Sing?," a song from musical Les Miserables and the anthem of Hong Kong protests in 2014. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

People wore black during the protest and many carried white flowers to honor a man who died after falling from a building Saturday while holding banners opposing the extradition bill. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

In 2047, Hong Kong fully becomes part of China because that is when the "one country, two systems" deal ends. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 when the United Kingdom worked out a deal to turn Hong Kong to China under the stipulation that Hong Kong residents would continue to enjoy many of the rights that they had as British subjects. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

A U.S. bill co-sponsored by House and Senate lawmakers Thursday said it reaffirmed the American commitment to democracy, human rights and rule of law at a time when "these freedoms and Hong Kong's autonomy are being eroded." Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Protesters march in front of the Hong Kong skyline. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Millions of Hong Kong residents take to the streets. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

June 19 (UPI) -- Protest organizers in Hong Kong claim that nearly 2 million people, most clad in black and many carrying white flowers as a symbol of mourning, took to the streets on Sunday as demonstrations continued over proposed changes to extradition law. With a total population of just over 7 million, it was an extraordinary show of grass-roots politics.

The "fugitives bill," as it often referred to, would allow extradition to China, among other countries. Hong Kong is currently under no obligation to repatriate anyone to China, due to the "one country, two systems" model that came into effect following its 1997 handover from the United Kingdom to China. The joint declaration, signed by Beijing and London, states clearly that the territory shall enjoy civic freedom and autonomy for 50 years. Enshrined in this agreement is judicial independence from China.

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After protests that attracted global media attention, Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, agreed to suspend the bill -- but not remove it -- in what was seen as a significant government climb down. Apologizing for the extradition bill, Lam said it would not be reintroduced until people's fears had been addressed, and indicated that it would now be unlikely to pass before the end of the legislative session in 2020.

Yet officials were quick to criticize those agitating against the draconian legislation. Supported by Beijing, Lam referred to the protests as "unacceptable for any civilized societies."

If the bill is passed, it would fundamentally alter the judicial independence of Hong Kong and signal the beginning of the end of the "one country, two systems" model. The excessive use of force by police against those exercising their legally protected right to protest, shows just how near Hong Kong is to the end of that road.

Designed for elsewhere

The "one country, two systems" model is a constitutional framework established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s. Under the principle, each region of China could continue to have its own system of government, economic and financial independence, legal system and external trade relations.

Over the past two decades, the implementation of this model in Hong Kong has been difficult -- largely because it was never intended for the former colony. It was originally devised by Deng as the model for a future -- albeit only theoretical -- agreement with Taiwan. But Taiwan would essentially be negotiating any agreement with China itself, and there would be no hard deadline. In the case of Hong Kong, however, it was the British that were negotiating -- and to a deadline that was set without much consultation with the people living in Hong Kong.

The government of China consistently took the view that the whole of Hong Kong should be Chinese territory -- in spite of the fact that Hong Kong Island was ceded to the United Kingdom in perpetuity as part of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 -- and that the New Territories, an additional 365 square miles, was leased to Britain by the Qing government in 1898 for 99 years.

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As the expiration on the lease of the New Territories on July 1, 1997 approached, negotiations began under Murray MacLehose, then governor of Hong Kong, during a visit to Beijing in 1979. It was here that informal discussions were made on the future of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. The first formal discussion was made in September 1982, during a visit to the United Kingdom by Deng with the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

China proposed the concept of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region and, in April 1984, both sides agreed that Hong Kong would retain a high degree of autonomy with assurances made on the preservation and maintenance of the lifestyle of the people in Hong Kong. In September 1984, both sides agreed on the Chinese and English versions of the text and the "one country, two systems" model was adopted.

Judicial independence

The joint declaration consists of eight paragraphs, with three annexes. Within this document, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is under direct authority of the government of the Peoples' Republic of China. Yet Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy -- except for foreign and defense affairs -- and it is allowed to have executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication.

Since the joint declaration forms the basis of the "one country, two systems" model, it is the section on the independence of judicial power and final adjudication that the people of Hong Kong believe is being prematurely removed as part of the changes to extradition law. If the bill is eventually signed, it would bring an end to this guarantee by removing independent judicial power and so marking the de facto end of the "one country, two systems" model in its current format. Since the framework of the model has been repeatedly suggested to Taiwan, but has always been rejected, the authorities and people in Taiwan are also watching events in Hong Kong closely.

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The erosion of the model has been going on for some time -- and the pro-democracy "Umbrella Movement" in 2014 was testament to this. Changes in the nature of the relationship between the Hong Kong authorities and civic society are now inevitable in light of the scale of grassroots-level protest. The "one country, two systems" model as we know it is going to change -- but in what way remains uncertain.